All About Raw Dog Food

Archive for the ‘How To Feed Raw Food’ Category

When you start feeding your dog a diet based on the b.a.r.f plan, you will notice that there is a lot of dog food raw meat that is included in the diet plan. You need to consider all of your dog’s dietary concerns when you introduce a dog food raw diet meal plan into their lives, and there is more to it than just feeding raw meat.

You may not have thought about the role of vegetables in a dog food raw meat diet plan. Yes, vegetables! In order for your animal to have healthy pet food, you must provide the vegetables in a form that simulate the stomach contents of the prey that your dog would catch in the wild. At home you can replicate this form of vegetables by puréeing them in a blender or food processor.

It is important for natural animal nutrition to include raw vegetables as they are full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber. In the dog food raw diet meal plan, you will need to choose a variety of vegetables, and because dogs cannot digest cellulose, you must break down the cell wall of vegetables before your dog can digest them and reap all of the benefits of a raw food diet.

Have you heard the word probiotics but are unsure what probiotics are? Probiotics are live “good” bacteria that live in the digestive system and aid in the digestive process. They keep harmful bacteria like e-coli and salmonella in check by overwhelming them in numbers and by decreasing pH. Acidophilus and bifidus are non dairy probiotics that occur naturally in raw foods such as tripe (stomach) and yogurt, but they can also be given as a supplement.

Puppies and older dogs, dogs under stress, nursing bitches, and animals undergoing a diet change are good candidates to have probiotics for dogs added to their diets. Dogs receiving antibiotics need to be supplemented with probiotics to replace the healthy bacteria that are destroyed, along with the disease causing bacteria.

For diarrhea and stomach upset, increase the probiotics for dogs using a simple fermented salad, found in this dog food recipe. Place green leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and dandelion leaves, in your food processor along with some probiotics and a sprinkle of digestive enzymes. Process until the mixture is very fine. Let it sit and ferment for 15 minutes, and then feed the “salad” to your dog. This combination will settle diarrhea and improve digestion in no time.

If you are considering feeding your animal a raw meat diet for dogs but are concerned about the cost that may be involved, you owe it to yourself to do a dog food comparison. It is possible that when you begin feeding a raw meat diet for dogs it may cost a little bit more than a canned or dry dog kibble diet, but you really need to compare the costs in the long term and not just the short term.

While in transition to a raw meat diet for dogs, you may be buying individual, smaller packages which are more expensive. However, once your dog is switched over to bones and raw food, you will be able to buy in bulk and save. Once you are comfortable with the diet you may want to prepare the pureed vegetables yourself. You may purchase larger quantities of raw meaty bones from your butcher or meat wholesaler to freeze individually. Doing the prep work yourself and buying products in bulk will save you money.

Save money on veterinarian bills by feeding a raw meat diet for dogs.  No more teeth cleaning, no more fleas, and fewer routine trips to the vet mean that you will have more money to buy toys and accessories for your dog. Feed him his dog food raw and he is less likely to have allergies, arthritis and cancer, improving his chance to have a better, longer life with you.

Digestive enzymes are produced by the pancreas in our dog’s bodies naturally to assist in the digestion of food.  It is thought that the pancreas can only produce a finite amount of enzymes in its lifetime, and therefore including raw food that is enzyme rich in the diet is necessary for long term good health.  Are you wondering if your dog consumes enough enzymes for optimal health?

Dogs and cats eating raw pet food consume lots of digestive enzymes found in abundance in both raw meat and in raw fruits and vegetables.  Dogs that are fed raw, green, unbleached tripe benefit from the rich digestive enzymes contained in the stomach of beef, buffalo, lamb, goat, and venison.

Are you feeding your dog commercially prepared cooked pet foods that contain no enzymes?  Improve the number of enzymes your dog gets by the addition of fresh, ripe fruits and vegetables.  Your dog won’t eat fruits and vegetables?  Digestive enzyme supplements can and should be add to the dog’s diet when it contains no fresh food.

Bones and raw food, b.a.r.f. were fed to dogs for generations before commercially prepared diets were available.  Back in the 1950s, machines were designed to create extruded products and processed foods became the fashion for feeding busy families, spilling over into feeding the family pet.  Processed foods have proven to be detrimental to human’s health and commercially prepared pet foods have taken their toll on dog and cat health too by causing degenerative disease similar to those affecting humans.  Now people are looking for better dogfood nutrition.

There are many all natural dog food products available today.  An all natural diet is grain free and raw, as nature intended.  This dog raw food diet has many titles:  bones and raw food, b.a.r.f. or biologically appropriate raw food (BARF or B.A.R.F.), or a raw prey diet.  This diet includes all of the components of a prey type animal.  The dog raw food diet contains the following:  juiced or pureed vegetables that are similar to stomach contents, raw unbleached tripe (stomach) which contains enzymes and healthy bacteria like acidophilus, organ meat such as liver and heart, muscle meat and lots of bones.  Add some essential fatty acids in the form of natural fish oil and you have a great all natural dog food diet for your companion animal!

Feeding bones and raw food to dogs gives amazing results!  Not only do they love their food, but they have healthy gums and beautiful white teeth that never have to be cleaned by the vet.  Their coats and bodies stay clean and odor free and they produce less stool because the bones and raw food diet contains no fillers.  Dogs eating a raw food diet will have healthier immune systems and will have fewer or no fleas.  These benefits are just some of the ones that your dog will experience when fed all natural dog food products.

When you have a dog, you have a lifelong companion, another member of your family. In fact, many people treat their dogs as if it they were their children, or even their best friends. You would never serve your children or friends food that was bad for them and could harm them, right? That is why it you want to choose the best dog foods that you can for your animal. The best dog foods do not come from the pet store.  No. Healthy pet food starts at home.

The best dog foods for your best friend include all natural ingredients, foods that your dog would eat if he were in the wild. In the wild he would eat a diet rich in raw meaty bones. You can provide those raw meaty bones by feeding chicken backs, necks and wings, and necks, ribs, shanks and knuckles from beef, buffalo, deer, goat, lamb and moose. Of course, you also need to include tripe (stomach), organ meat, and vegetables in your dog’s diet.

Some people are surprised to hear that the best dog foods include vegetables. Vegetables are important to your dog’s health as they provide enzymes and vitamins and minerals not found in meat. In the wild dogs eat the stomach (tripe) and its contents from their prey which includes partially digested vegetables and juices. Preparing fresh food for dogs is important for their health and it is the loving thing to do for an important member of your family.

If you are a pet owner who is interested in the health of his pet, you need to be aware of the barf diet for dogs and all of the health benefits it can provide. If you are looking for the best dogfood available for your animal, you owe it to yourself and your dog to explore the barf diet for dogs.

The barf diet is a bones and raw food diet, a diet based on what the animal would eat in the wild. Because dogs are carnivores, their diets would consist largely of prey animals. A barf diet simulates a prey based diet, when you feed raw meaty bones, organ meat, and a variety of pulverized vegetables.

It is important to feed your dogs a diet of raw foods, including raw meat and raw, uncooked vegetables. By cooking the ingredients before feeding them to your dog you are destroying many of the essential nutrients that are present in raw food. In nature, dogs never cook their food before eating it. A barf diet for dogs promotes good health because of the excellent nutrition you provide when you feed your dog the best dog food available.

When you feed a barf diet for dogs, deer rib meat raw will be a favourite for your companion animal!  Wolves in the wild feast on deer or venison on a regular basis, so it makes sense to feed all parts of a deer to your dog as a natural dog food.

If you are a hunter, or are lucky enough to be given some of this wild meat, know also that as well as the deer ribs you can also share the meaty venison necks and stomach or tripe, as you will probably not be eating these parts yourself.  Tripe is full of digestive enzymes and probiotics which form some of the best dog food as part of the barf diet for dogs.  Deer rib meat raw is perfect for cleaning those canine teeth and soothing that canine brain.

As well as being part of a great barf diet for dogs, deer rib meat raw is great for feeding puppies.  The bones are just the right size for that little puppy mouth and jaw and will provide lots of tugging and chewing so necessary for healthy development in puppies.

Feeding dogs a barf diet, feeding dogs a raw food diet is very simple.  Think about a raw prey type diet when you are planning a raw food diet for pets.  Dogs are closely related to wolves and digest and utilize food the same way.  Plan for a variety of meats in the same way that wolves would eat a variety of prey.

And don’t stop there.  Remember, there are different components to a prey animal.  Include juiced or pureed veggies to simulated stomach contents, raw unbleached tripe or stomach, organ meats like liver, heart and kidney, muscle meat and bones in the barf diet, feeding dogs a raw food diet.

A good raw food diet for pets definitely includes raw meaty bones.  Is your dog aggressive when you give him bones?  If you answer yes, that is because bones are so important to him that he becomes possessive.  Give him a quiet space to enjoy his bones and be sure to give him lots of them when feeding dogs a barf diet, feeding dogs a raw food diet.

Puppies and adult dogs thrive on healthy pet food.  Breeders and vets are often good sources of information on how to feed your new puppy, and there is also lots of good information available about animal nutrition on-line.  What if your breeder has not kept up with all that information or what if your vet is not educated on nutrition?  You will want to know the best way to feed your puppy, and that the most natural dog food available is raw and grain free.  Many people are feeding their dogs bones and raw food (barf), but what about the barf diet for puppies?

Are you wondering if it is complicated?  It is very simple if you design your pup’s diet so that it is similar to what wolves eat in the wild; they eat a variety of prey animals, and they usually eat the whole animal.  Perhaps you are wondering where to start?  Breeders often start feeding the barf diet for puppies when pups are only a few weeks old, and good breeders will be happy to educate puppy buyers about why and how to feed the b.a.r.f. diet.  Puppies that are fed commercially prepared pet food may be switched over to raw food easily.  Start with chicken necks or ground chicken with the bone ground in.  Add some pureed or juiced fresh veggies (about 25% of the meal) to the ground meat and watch your pup devour the meal.  Add new varieties of meats and vegetables on a regular basis.  Keep in mind how important raw bones are to your pup and feed him lots of them.  Bones are important nutritionally to provide minerals like calcium, and to balance the phosphorus in meat. Physically, bones are important in providing exercise to the jaw and facial muscles, and to ensure a good foundation for teeth.

You will be amazed at how well your new pup will do on the barf diet for puppies.

Check out Grow Your Pups with Bones by Ian Billinghurst D.V.M., or e-books from other nutritional experts.